Close-coupled water closet



Mardi 25, 1952 H, F, SMITH 2,590,471

cLosE-coUPLEn WATER cLosE'r.

Filedfduly 7, 195o mln-umg 7 INVENTOR. HARRY F. 5M ITI-1.

.(477 TORNEYS.

Patented Mar. 25, 1952 2,590,471 CLOSE-COUPLE!) WATER CLOSET Harry F. Smith, Lexington, Ohio, assignor to Mansfield Sanitary Pottery, Inc., Perrysville, hio, a corporation of vOllio Application July 7, 1950, Serial No. 172,509

4 Claims.

This invention relates generally to the art of close-coupled water closet combinations and is particularlyconcerned with a new combination of suchpaits including means for connecting and holding the parts in assembled relation.

Heretofore, when a close-coupled closet was to be made the tank was mounted directly on the bowl, one or both of the engaging surfaces was ground to obtain the desired alignment and leveling and the tank was connected to the bowl by two Side bolts which extended down through the flanges projected lateraly outward on opposite sides of the water inlet. This grinding operation was costly and scrap losses were incurred when the necessary alignment or leveling could not be obtained by permissible grinding of the parts. While some of the costs might have been avoided by the use of three attaching bolts, other costs would have been incurred if a rearwardly extending flange had been added to receive a bolt on the central. longitudinal plane of the bowl; in other words, to provide a three point suspension so to speak. Any such flangewould tend to soften and sag during firing because of the difficulty of supporting it properly and, hence, the scrap loss would be high.

The present invention aims to provide a new combination of close-coupled tank and bowl in which the tank may be mounted out of direct contact with the bowl, neither tank nor bowl need be grounded to obtain alignment or leveling and in which the tank and bowl may be secured in assembled position by means which is inexpensive to make, easy to install, quite satisfactory in use and can be applied to bowls of ordinary construction without any modication thereof.

The present invention will be better understood by those skilled in the art from the following description and the drawings Vwhich accompany this specication and in which:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary, bottom, plan view of a bowl and tank combination embodying the present invention and showing particularly the means for securing the bowl and tank in assembled position;

Fig. 2 is a vertical, sectional view takenon line 2-2 kof Fig. 1; and

Fig. 3 is a rear, fragmentary, elevational view looking toward the apparatus of Fig. 2 from the line 3--3.

In the gures, the rearwardly projecting portion I of a toilet bowl is shown as having a water inlet opening 2 which is dened b-y an annular, upwardly and outwardly diverging surface 3 which is suitably shaped for sealing er1-- gagement with a sealing ring. The bowl has-l a generally triangular flange 4 which extends; laterally outward from the sides of the inlet andi is anchored at its ends to the rim of the bowl.4 This ange 4 is provided with a pair of sidef holes (not shown) for seat bolts and with another pair of side holes 5 for tank bolts.

The tank I0 which is to be mounted on, and closely coupled with, bowl I has a bottom wall II provided with an outlet opening I2 equipped with a spud which consists of a tube I3 having an annular seat Ill at its upper end ball valve I5 and a threaded lower outer end ontoA which a ring I6 is screwed. Gasket I'I surrounds tube I3 and is compressed between outstanding flange I8 on tube I3 and the surfaces defining the outlet opening I2 of the tank, thus sealing against the escape of water from the tank around the spud. The ring IS carries a gasket 20 which preferably is attached thereto vand which extends above the upper surface of ring I6 so as to engage the outside bottom surface of wall II before ring I6 engages it. The lower surface of gasket 20 is so shaped as to form a good seal with the surface 3 of bowl inlet opening 2. Hence, when tank I0 is assembled with Spud I3, ring IIi and gaskets I'I and 20, such as.- sembly may be placed on bowl I and, after leveling the tank, the assembly may be secured to the bowl, gasket 20 serving both as a means of leveling the tank and also as a means for preventing the escape of liquid between the bowl and spud.

The bottom wall II of tank II] is provided with three holes 25 through each of which is passed a bolt 26 or other suitable securing means, gaskets 2'I being provided between the heads of the bolts and the inner surface of the tank to prevent the escape of water through the holes in the tank. Two of these bolts extend through the side holes 5 in flange 4 of the bowl and the third bolt extends down past the rear end of that llange in the central longitudinal plane of the bowl. A general V-shaped member, such as a wire, has holes or loops 3| at its ends which encircle the two bolts 26 which pass through rim 4 of the bowl. Nuts 32 on these bolts press washers against these loops and also draw the tank toward the bowl and press the gasket 20 into uid sealing contact with both the tank and bowl around opening 2. The third and rearmost bolt 26 carries a clip 33 which has an upturned inner fiange to engage with the midpart of the V-shaped member 30. When the nut 32 is screwed onto bolt 26, it urges the washer-- against clip 33 and secures the rear part of the tank in rmly assembled relation with the bowl. Upward movement of the member 30 is limited by the ange 4 which overlies the member 30 for substantially its entire length. Hence, the member serves as a good anchor at its midportion for the rear bolt 26 and clip 33, while the ends are anchored by the side bolts 26.

It will be understood from the foregoing disclosure that by means of the present invention a bowl and tank or ordinary construction may be readily assembled as a close-coupled water .closet and retained in assembled positionby securing means which-are readily attached to the bowl and tank. In the herein illustrated form of the invention, the securing means comprises the bolts 26, clip 33 and Wire 30. The Wire 30 may be readily applied to any standard bowl by providing two holes for reception of the forward bolts 26 and assembling bolts 26, wire 30 and clip 33 with the illustrated nuts and washers. It will be understood that the wire 30 may be variously shaped, the general V-shaped illustrated being preferred because it clears the downwardly extending walls of the bowl adjacent to inlet 2 and provides a short straight length interl mediate its ends for engagement with the clip 33. With differently shaped bowl walls, the wire 36 would obviously be correspondingly shaped so as to be connectable to the tank by connecting means such as the bolt and clip. Also, the wire 30 may be replaced by a rod, or other suitable member. Furthermore, the bolts 26 may be repalced by equivalent securing means.

Subject matter disclosed but not claimed herein is being claimed in my copending application Serial No. 265,900 led on or about January 10, 1952.

Other variations in the structure specifically shown and described which do not amount to invention may be made within the scope of what is claimed.

What is claimed is:

l. A close-coupled water closet combination comprising a toilet bowl having a rear extension, a flange projecting outwardly from said extension, a tank, and means securing said tank in assembled position on said bowl, said means comprising a generally `\fshaped member beneath said flange, a clip engaging said member near its apex, and means connecting the clip and the ends of said member to said-tank.

2. A close-coupled water closet combination comprising a toilet bowl having a rear extension, a ange projecting outwardly from said extension, a tank, and means. securing said tank in assembled position on said bowl, said means comprising a generally V-shaped member beneath said flange, a clip engaging said member near its apex, and means connecting the clip and the ends of said member to said tank, the said clip connecting means extending from within the tank down past the rear edge of said flange.

3. A close-coupled water closet combination comprising a toilet bowl having a rear extension, a flange projecting outwardly from said extension, a tank, and means securing said tank in assembled position on said bowl, said means com-n prising a generally V-shaped member beneath said flange, a clip engaging said member near its apex, and means connecting the clip and the ends of said member to said tank, the connecting means at the ends of said V-shaped member extending from within the tank down through said ange.

4. A close-coupled water closet combination comprising a toilet bowl having a rear extension, a flange projecting laterally outward from said extension, a tank, and means securing said tank in assembled position on said bowl, said means comprising a generally V-shaped member beneath said iiange, a clip engaging said member near its apex, and means connecting the clip and the ends of said member to said tank, the said clip connecting means extending from within the tank down past the rear edge of said flange, the connecting means at the ends of said V- shaped member extending from within the tank down through said flange.

HARRY F. SMITH.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,895,145 Brotz Jan. 24, 1933 2,167,354 Gavin July 25, 1939 2,520,575 Smith Aug. 29, 1950 

